This is a Newbery Medal Honor book. It involves conservation efforts and is a realistic fiction novel. It was later turned into a major motion picture. Roy is the new kid at school and has issues with being picked on. He stumbles upon owls and wants to save them from destruction.

This was always one of my favorite chapter books when I was a kid. It tells the story of Roy who has just moved to Florida and does not have many friends. Along his way he meets Dana who bullies him and has many coming of age experiences. I think this is a great realistic fiction book, It would be a good read aloud book for the classroom. The teacher could read a chapter or two a day and then have the students record their thoughts in a reading log.

I really liked Hoot and the way that the book felt as I progressed through the chapters. The plot of the story is a really good lay out that actively involves the reader with realistic detail. The way the story progresses around main character Roy follows realistic thinking patterns and action behavior which really had me interested in the book. Another aspect I liked about the book was the character development. The main character is the new kid on the block and has to make new friendships, struggling as any normal person would in his situation, leaving a realistic opinion of the boy. ( )

Pat Tate (Carousel 23 (Spring 2003))Roy Eberhardt is being bullied by Dana Matherson, mainly because he is the new boy who has just moved to the school in Florida from Montana. A refreshingly different tale because Roy resolutely refuses to give in to the bully, and as a result of this positive stand he sees something mysterious which develops into an intriguing story. There is a connection with the tantalising title and cover and the delightful humour, together with the lovably quirky characters in this special novel, is most satisfying. My heart warmed to the policeman who fell asleep in his patrol car, and woke to find someone had painted all the windows black. The book feels very American but young readers will cope with the slight cultural differences, which may well enhance their enjoyment of the tale.

Nicholas Tucker (Books for Keeps No. 140, May 2003)Hiaasen must be the most entertaining environmental author there has yet been. Now addressing a younger audience for the first time, his latest passionate but also very funny novel jogs along paths already familiar to fans of his previous adult eco-thrillers. Set in his beloved but continuously over-developed state of Florida, this story features a wild boy out to defeat a Pancake company from building on land dwelt in by rare burrowing owls. Up against him are Curly, the grumpy, bald site foreman, Officer Delinko, an unfortunate policeman, and Chuck E Muckle, company chairman and ruthless entrepreneur. All this is witnessed by Roy, a new boy in the area who is also the target of his school's chief bully. How everything finally works out is a joy to behold, with enough one-liners to keep any reader happy long after the event. Category: 10-14 Middle/Secondary. Rating: ***** (Unmissable). ...., Macmillan, 288pp, D9.99 pbk. Ages 10 to 14.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Roy Eberhardt is the new kid--again. This time around it's Trace Middle School in humid Coconut Grove, Florida. But it's still the same old routine: table by himself at lunch, no real friends, and thick-headed bullies like Dana Matherson pushing him around. But if it wasn't for Dana Matherson mashing his face against the school bus window that one day, he might never have seen the tow-headed running boy. And if he had never seen the running boy, he might never have met tall, tough, bully-beating Beatrice. And if he had never met Beatrice, he might never have discovered the burrowing owls living in the lot on the corner of East Oriole Avenue. And if he had never discovered the owls, he probably would have missed out on the adventure of a lifetime. Apparently, bullies do serve a greater purpose in the scope of the universe. Because if it wasn't for Dana Matherson...

In his first novel for a younger audience, Carl Hiaasen (Basket Case, etc.) plunges readers right into the middle of an ecological mystery, made up of endangered miniature owls, the Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House scheduled to be built over their burrows, and the owls' unlikely allies--three middle school kids determined to beat the screwed-up adult system. Hiaasen's tongue is firmly in cheek as he successfully cuts his slapstick sense of humor down to kid-size. Sure to be a hoot, er, hit with middle school mystery fans. (Ages 10 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert